1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a container handling system and a process for filling, capping and cooling hot-filled containers with a projection, and more particularly to a system and process for filling, capping and cooling hot-filled, blow-molded containers with a projection that can extend outside the container during the filling process and be inverted inside the container before the filled container is removed from a production line.
2. Related Art
Known blow-molded containers are usually made of plastic and employ flex panels that reinforce the integrity of the container while accommodating internal changes in pressures and volume in the container as a result of heating and cooling. This is especially true with hot-fillable containers, or containers in which hot products are injected during a filling process, capped and cooled to room temperature thereby allowing the filled product to cool to the ambient room temperature. Such containers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,298,638, 6,439,413, and 6,467,639 assigned to Graham Packaging Company, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
In order to obtain the necessary strength associated with glass containers, known hot-filled containers made out of plastic tend to be formed with protruding rib structures that surround panels forming the container. While the protruding rib structures improve the strength of the container that is blow-molded out of plastic, the resultant, lightweight, blow-molded containers with panels and protruding rib structure detract from the desired smooth, sleek look of a glass container. Accordingly, a hot-fillable, blow-molded container and process of filing, capping and cooling the same is needed that more closely simulates a glass container and achieves the smooth outward appearance associated with glass containers.
In addition to having protruding rib structures for strength, known hot-filled plastic containers tend to have rectangular panels for vacuum compensation. For example, conventional hot-fill containers, depending upon the size, may have 6 vacuum or flex panels to take up the resultant vacuum after cooling the hot-filled product with rigid, structural columns or ribs between each vacuum panel. It is known in the art to cover the protruding rib structures and panels with a paper label to improve the aesthetics or overall appearance of the plastic container. Consequently, in order to provide support for the label, the panels of such containers are provided with additional protruding structures. Thus, hot-filled containers are provided with more recesses and corners from which hot-filled solid products are not easily removed. Or, if the hot-filled product is subsequently chilled by placing the container in ice, the label covering the panels with protruding structures traps water inside the recessed panels resulting in spillage of the water after the container is removed from ice. Accordingly, a hot-filled, plastic container with a smoother side surface that is relatively or completely free of structural geometry is desired to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.